Trouble in the Palace
by Wanwan-san
Summary: Syaoran and Sakura got off on the wrong foot. What happens when Touya decides to take revenge for past events and forces them to be together? Will love blossom or will it wither and die? Slightly AU SyaoSaku
1. What?

_Chapter One: What?_

It was a beautiful day in the country of Clow. The sun was high in the clear blue sky and the air had a spring feel to it. Everyone in Clow was enjoying the beautiful weather, well, everyone except a certain brown haired, amber eyed archaeologist. He walked the streets of Clow with a scowl on his face and bags under his eyes. You could say that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or actually, not on the bed at all. It all started on that same beautiful day, only very, very early in the morning.

Syaoran woke up on the floor of his room shivering. It was still dark outside and hardly anything was visible. He got up stiffly and lit the lamp next to his bed. His room was bathed in light and the said light revealed a very simple room. A bed, night stand, bookshelf, desk, window, and a random box of books in the middle of the floor were the only things in the room. Syaoran put a hand over his face and sighed. Of all days he could have woken up like this, it had to be today. Today was the day that Syaoran had to report his findings at the archaeological dig site to the king.

Syaoran and the king did not have a very good history together. A few years ago, when the king was still a prince, he and Syaoran had had a fight, to put it simply, and if the prince had been the king at that time, Syaoran might not have his head. Neither Syaoran nor the king had ever forgotten that fight, and it seemed to Syaoran that the king was looking for a good reason to expel him from the country or a chance to make his life a nightmare. Needless to say, Syaoran was not looking forward to today.

Syaoran got up and decided to move the box of books to safer location while he was awake. He grabbed the side of box and realized the it was a lot heavier than he remembered. As he carried the box of books towards the book shelf, Syaoran felt his grip on the box slipping fast. Before he was able to set the box down, it slipped out of his hands and landed right on his big toe. He grimaced with the pain and let out a quiet "argh", along with a few curses under his breath. He pulled his right foot out from under the box and proceeded to hop around his room clutching his injured toe.

After he was finished hopping around, he sat down on his bed and bandaged his toe. _Great,_ Syaoran thought sarcastically to himself,_ the perfect way to start a great day._

And that is how we got such a stormy faced teen on such a beautiful day. As Syaoran walked down the road that lead to the royal palace, he couldn't help but feel that the weather was mocking him, having such beautiful day on one of the worst days of his life.

Syaoran realized, after looking up at the sun, that if he didn't hurry, he would be late for his appointment with the king. After he got through the gates and into the palace he broke into a run towards the throne room. As he turned the corner, he ran right into someone. That "someone" was a girl who looked about his age with bright green eyes and short, light brown hair. Having never seen the princess of Clow during any of his prior visits to the palace, he had no idea who he had just plowed into.

On any other day, Syaoran would have immediately apologized to the girl he had just run into and offered to help her to her feet. But today, because he was in such a bad mood, and because the girl he ran into had managed to tread on his injured foot before she fell, he treated her very rudely. "Hey watch where you're going!" he said, glaring at her for a few seconds. Then he turned and ran off in the direction of throne room.

Sakura had never been so surprised in her life. She was walking down the hallway when all of the sudden, a boy about her age ran right into her. And not only that, but he had the nerve to treat her so rudely! She felt like she wanted to cry and explode with rage at the same time. Then she realized that the guy who ran her over might be an intruder, or some sort of convicted criminal. _That was probably why he was running,_ she thought. She immediately went to report to her brother, the king, taking a short cut on the way.

Sakura burst into the throne room almost out of breath. "T-Touya!" she yelled, then took a deep breath, "There's an intruder in the palace!"

"What?" Touya replied in a bored tone.

"There's an intruder!" Sakura repeated.

Touya looked over at his sister, his disinterest clear on his face. "What did he look like?" he said in the same tone.

"Well," Sakura said, "I didn't get a good look at him, but he looked about my age, with brown spiky hair about this long." She put her hands a few inches away from her hair to indicate the length of the spikes.

"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, "He was also wearing a big green cloak!"

"Oh it's just _him_" Touya said with disgust. "So how did you get acquainted with this, uh what did you call him? Intruder?"

"Uhm, well I was walking down the hall, when all of the sudden, he just ran right into me, knocking me over! And then he blamed the whole thing on me!" she said angrily.

"Oh did he now?" Touya said with and evil grin spreading across his face. _Finally!_ He thought,_ now have a reason for whatever I decide to do to him._

"Touya," Sakura said, slightly confused, "why are you smiling?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Enter" Touya said, barely keeping the excitement out of his voice. The door opened and the intruder (aka Syaoran) walked into the room. When he saw the person he had knocked over standing so close to king, a look of shock, confusion, and a hint of fear crossed his face. He stopped for moment, he was so surprised, but then he remembered his manners and knelt down and bowed to the king. "YOU!" Sakura shouted, pointing a finger at Syaoran. Syaoran looked up at the princess. She was glaring at him fiercely, so he glared right back. Their eyes were locked for a few moments until the king cleared his throat and said, "Well, let's hear that report! What did you find?"

Syaoran tore himself away from the intense gaze and explained briefly what he had found over the past few weeks. As Syaoran was explaining his findings, Touya noticed the fierce glare his sister was giving Syaoran, and he noticed that whenever Syaoran looked at her he glared right back. Suddenly, he had an idea. A brilliant idea if he said so himself. Touya mental called himself a genius. He had thought of way to get revenge on his sister for putting pond water in his face-washing basin, not to mention all the other pranks she had played on him and gotten away with, and Syaoran at the same time. A sly smile appeared on his face, but he quickly hid it. Fortunately for the king, Syaoran didn't notice this because he was having a short glaring contest with the princess at the moment. "Okay then… uh very…interesting." Touya said after Syaoran had finished speaking. "Now it's time for what I have been looking forward to for so long." Syaoran looked at him questioningly until he saw the sly grin spreading across the king's face. His questioning look immediately evolved into a look of fear. Syaoran knew something very bad was about to happen to him.

"It has come to my attention," the king said in a stately manner, "that you ran over my sister a few minutes ago."

The king paused to let what he had just said sink in to Syaoran's head. Syaoran paled. That was the princess he ran into! He'd done it now. He glanced over at the princess, who had a smug grin on her face. She was having a hard time fighting the urge to make faces at Syaoran.

"And," the king continued in the same stately tone, "you were very rude to her and you didn't even help her to feet." Syaoran gulped. "I have half a mind to expel you from the country right now in fact." The king stated. Syaoran winced at this. "But…" the king said after a pause, "I have an even better idea." Syaoran was now genuinely afraid and it was written all over his face. "Seeing as my sister doesn't have a bodyguard and because she has seemed so bored and lonely lately…" Touya trailed off in a mysterious tone. Sakura turned toward her brother. She didn't like where this was going.

Touya continued "you will be the princess's bodyguard and constant companion. You are not to leave her side for any reason, except maybe for private matters and sleeping, but otherwise, you two will do everything together from now on."

"WHAT!!" The princess yelled. "Touya!" she said in a loud, half whiny tone. "I don't want to have to spend all my time with _him_!" she said pointing at Syaoran.

Syaoran's jaw dropped. This was worse than being expelled from the country, well for him at least. Sure it was better than dying, but this would be torture for Syaoran. Having to escort someone who hates him isn't exactly his ideal job, but not being able to continue his career as an archaeologist was unbearable. At least he would have been able to continue his career elsewhere if he was kicked out of the country.

"You have until dinner to move into the guest room right next to Sakura's bedroom. If you try to run away, I will have people go out and track you down, and when they find you, you will be executed. Now get to it, dinner will be served at sunset and I expect you to escort the princess to dinner as your first job." Touya told Syaoran in a smug tone.

"Y-Yes sir." Syaoran replied, still shocked. He walked out of the throne room in a daze. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

Then it clicked in his brain that he only had a few hours to move all of his things from his house to his new room in the palace. He snapped out of his daze and ran out of the castle gates and all the way home. He started throwing his clothes into a leather bag. He also packed his books, his extra pair of boots, as well as few other items. He loaded everything into an old wagon that he used for bringing things to the dig sites he visited and pulled the wagon to the palace. At the gate, some servants were waiting to show him to his room and help him carry his belongings there. After all his things were put in his room and he received directions to the dining hall, Syaoran closed the door to his new room and lay down on his new bed. He couldn't believe what had happened in such a short time.

Meanwhile, Sakura was in the throne room arguing with Touya. "Why did you do that?" Sakura yelled. "I don't want to have him following me around for the rest of my life!"

"Simple," Touya answered with a smile. "For revenge, and because I can."

"Revenge for what?" Sakura asked.

"Well the brat and I had fight a long time ago and he got away without being punished, while I on the other hand was grounded for a month! And as for you," Touya said looking straight at Sakura, "I still have a lot of things I never got back at you for. Plus, this should be fun to watch."

Sakura was going to argue, but then the more rational side of her took over and she realized that no matter what she said or did, she wouldn't be able to change Touya's mind. So she stormed off to her room in a huff.

"This going to be good," Touya said to himself after Sakura had gone.

* * *

**Hello all who are reading this! Thanks for reading my story!! Reviews are appreciated and constructive criticism and correction of all or some of my mistakes are definitely appreciated as well. **


	2. Extreme Footsie

_Chapter Two: Extreme Footsie_

Syaoran got up from his bed and stretched. He seemed to have dozed off. He went over to his bedroom window and he noticed it was almost sunset. _I'd better go get the princess,_ he thought with a sigh.

Before exiting his room, Syaoran took off his dirty work boots and put on a pair of nice shoes more suitable for dinner with royalty. He made sure his clothes were in order and then went to the room next to his and knocked on the door.

"What?" Sakura answered in a clearly annoyed tone.

_Oh great, _Syaoran thought. He cleared his throat and said as politely as he could,

"Sakura-hime, dinner is ready"

"Okay, I'm coming I'm coming just give me a minute"

_Well there's a surprise,_Syaoran thought, _I thought for sure she was going to put up a fight._

The door opened revealing an angry looking Sakura. She glared at Syaoran but said nothing as she closed the door to her room. As soon as she closed the door, Syaoran started to walk toward the dining hall expecting Sakura to follow. She did follow, but after a few seconds, she noticed that Syaoran was walking in front of her, so she sped up so she could be in front. Syaoran saw her pass him and chuckled to himself. _Two can play at that game,_he thought and he started to walk faster, passing Sakura like he intended. Sakura noticed this, and soon the pattern repeated itself until both of them were sprinting towards the dining hall at full speed.

Both of them entered the dining hall at the same time, completely out of breath. The king and a silver-haired, bespectacled man Syaoran recognized as the high priest and the king's best friend were already seated, giving them both strange looks.

The table they were seated at was simpler than Syaoran expected. It was an average sized four-legged table with a clean white table cloth over it. Touya and the high priest Yukito were sitting across from each other, leaving two available seats. Sakura took a seat so that Touya was at her left and Yukito at her right. Syaoran took the only remaining seat which had Touya at his right, Yukito at his left, and had him facing the princess who was giving him looks of pure loathing. "Well, now that everyone is here," the king said, "let's eat!"

Soon after the king had said that, servants streamed in carrying all sorts of different foods. Everyone picked what they wanted to eat, the servants left, and all that could be heard now was the clinking of the silverware on the plates.

Much to Touya's dismay, nothing was happening between Sakura and Syaoran. There was the occasional glare or dirty look, but that was nothing new. _Well this is boring,_Touya thought, _maybe I should spice things up a little bit._

Touya carefully observed Syaoran. When he was distracted, Touya carefully maneuvered his foot under the table and stomped as hard as he could on Syaoran's right foot.

Syaoran had just finished a mouthful of rice when the king crushed his poor foot. He flinched and jerked his foot out from under whatever was squishing it. Unfortunately for him, the underside of the table was closer to his knee than he thought, so when he jerked his foot out from under Touya's foot, his knee slammed into the bottom of the table. He doubled over in pain, which only resulted in him hitting his forehead on the top of the table.

There was short silence following Syaoran's misfortune, which was broken by Sakura's laughter. It started out as giggles but then erupted into hysterical laughter. She was laughing so hard she was crying.

Syaoran groaned and pulled his head from the table. He looked up to see Sakura laughing hysterically, Touya giving him a strange look, and Yukito looking at him in concern. _She did this!_Syaoran thought as he looked up at a laughing Sakura, _she is going to pay. _He glared at Sakura, many plans for revenge running through his head. As he glared, he noticed Sakura leaning back in her chair. _Perfect,_he thought. He stretched his foot out under the table and found the piece of wood that connected the two front chair legs. He slipped his foot under it and when the princess leaned back in her chair again, he lifted his foot up with all his strength and tipped the chair over backwards with Sakura still sitting on it. Her laughter immediately died when she hit the floor.

There was a stunned silence which was broken when Yukito got up out of his chair and made sure Sakura was okay, then helped her back into her seat. When their eyes met, Sakura glared at Syaoran so fiercely, it was as though she was trying to make his head explode. Syaoran, however, was unaffected; he just stared at her innocently. _If its war he wants, then war he shall get! _Sakura thought as she kicked Syaoran as hard as she could in the shin.

Syaoran winced as Sakura's foot connected with his shin. _So she wants a fight then. Well that's fine by me. _Syaoran thought as he kicked back.

Soon there was a game of extreme footsie going on under the table. Both Sakura and Syaoran were glaring daggers at each other, but focusing mainly on the battle going on under the table. They were rewarded with wince from their adversary when every their feet made contact.

Touya was elated. He didn't think his plan would work this well. He was expecting one or two kicks or some intense glaring, but this was great. He couldn't believe Syaoran had actually hit his head on the table, and it was hilarious how Sakura fell out of her chair. His was sitting in his chair with a goofy grin on his face, obviously enjoying the fight.

Yukito, on the other hand, was extremely confused. He came to dinner as usual, and Touya had filled him in on the situation with Syaoran. However the king conveniently forgot to mention that the princess and Syaoran didn't like each other. He was even more confused when Syaoran hit his head on the table in the middle of dinner for seemingly no particular reason and when Sakura randomly fell out of her chair. And now, to top it all off, the ever stoic King of Clow had incredibly goofy grin on his face and he seemed to be trying as hard as he could not to laugh.

Touya took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Well, I for one am stuffed, so I will retire to my room and get ready for bed and I suggest you all do the same." And after saying that, Touya got up and left.

In the hallway that led to his room, Touya chuckled to himself. _That, was the best dinner I've had in a long time._

Back at the dinner table, Sakura announced that she would do the same as Touya, and left shortly after her brother and Syaoran followed her.

Both Syaoran and Sakura walked down the corridor that led to their rooms in silence. Both of them were limping slightly because of their sore legs. Under their pants there were many black and blue bruises. Syaoran was limping a little more than Sakura because Sakura had discovered Syaoran's weakness in his right foot and she exploited it mercilessly. Syaoran also had a small red bump on his forehead where his head had met the table.

When they reached their rooms, Sakura stopped in front of her door and turned to Syaoran. "I'm going to take a bath and then I want to go to the library to get a few books, so you should take a bath and then meet me here." She said through gritted teeth.

"As you wish, _your highness._" He said in taunting tone, and then he finished with a mock bow and retreated into his room.

Sakura was furious. _The nerve of that guy! _She thought angrily as she stormed into her room, _he is going to pay for that and for making me fall out of my chair!_

Syaoran didn't know where the nerve to taunt the princess came from but he knew he would regret his actions later. He dismissed the thought for the moment and went to take his bath.

After he finished his bath, Syaoran put on some clean clothes and went to wait for the princess outside her door. He waited for about ten minutes before Sakura came out of her room. She promptly ignored him and started to walk off in the direction of the library. Syaoran followed at a distance, afraid that at any moment a plan for revenge by Sakura would take affect. However, Syaoran had nothing to fear because Sakura had not yet come up with a plan.

When they reached the library, Sakura went straight to her favorite section, leaving Syaoran in the doorway. When he saw that Sakura was going to take awhile, Syaoran went to find something to read to pass the time. He walked around the library for awhile until he came across an open space filled with piles of books not yet shelved. Some of the piles were as tall as he was. He went towards the middle of the area and took a book off the top of a pile that was about as tall as his waist. The title was fading but still readable. It said _A History of Clow. _Syaoran opened to the first page of the book and began to read.

Meanwhile, Sakura had been in her favorite section of the library, trying to find her favorite book. After much searching, she finally found it. She was ready to go back to her room, so she went to go find Syaoran.

As much as Sakura would have liked to lock Syaoran in the library, she couldn't because she knew her brother would find out and he would probably take away her library privileges.

She called his name a few times, but she received no answer. _Where is he!?_she thought angrily. She turned another corner and saw Syaoran's back among the many piles of unselved books. She looked at the books and she got an idea.

Sakura carefully and quietly crept up to one of the piles of books closest to Syaoran and hid behind it. Fortunately for Sakura, Syaoran didn't notice her because he was so absorbed in the book. Then Sakura "accidently" bumped into the pile of books she was hiding behind, causing it to topple over on top of Syaoran.

Syaoran had no idea what happened. He was reading the book he had picked up when suddenly, something hard and heavy hit the back of his head. Puzzled, he turned around, only to be met by an enormous pile of books coming crashing down on him. He was forced to the ground under the combined weight of the thick books. He laid on the ground, dazed, under a book mountain.

"Oh Syaoran are you okay?" Sakura asked, her voice full of mock concern.

Syaoran groaned and struggled to free himself from the books. When he was finally freed from his paper prison he was covered in even more bruises and a fine layer of dust from the books. He shook his head and rubbed his hand through his hair to try and get rid of the dust. The dust from his hair formed a small dust cloud and managed to find its way to Sakura's nose. She sneezed and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her running nose. She wasn't a big fan of dust. Seeing this gave Syaoran an idea. He carefully pulled off his shirt, making sure he disturbed as little dust as possible. Sakura was watching him and she blushed and looked away when he removed his shirt.

"W-What are you d-doing?" she stuttered, flustered, still looking away.

Syaoran chuckled. "I'm just getting rid of this dust," he replied evenly.

After saying this he began to shake out his shirt, causing dust to go flying everywhere, most of it going in Sakura's direction. This triggered a massive sneezing fit on Sakura's part.

"Syao-achoo-ran-achoo-kun! achoo achoo Stop-achoo-it!" Sakura said between sneezes.

He stopped after she said this and he silently put his shirt back on.

Sakura glared at him through red, irritated eyes and declared she was going to bed. She stomped off toward her room with Syaoran in tow. She entered her room and slammed the door. Syaoran took this as his cue to go to bed, so he walked into his room and carefully closed the door. He laid down in his new large bed for some well deserved rest. Little did he know that he was in for a rude awakening the next morning.

* * *

**I'm sorry it took so long to update but I've been super busy with school.**

**I'd like to thank GreenAppleIce, Pyro the Phoenix, dbzgtfan2004, Tsubasa Freak, Ninor-san, and Wolf-girl-Artemis for leaving reviews or alerts. They are really appreciated!!**

**Please review! it will help me update faster and if you have any ideas for this story i'd be happy to hear them so include them in your review or PM me.**

**For those of you who don't know here are some word or honorfic definitions:**

**hime - honorfic that means princess, so "Sakura-hime" means Princess Sakura**

**kun - honorfic used at the end of boy's names. usually used with someone you are familiar with**

**achoo - sound affect for sneezing**


	3. Of Bugles and Ink

_Chapter Three: Of Bugles and Ink_

"Sakura-hime."

A groan.

"Sakura-hime" Chiharu, Sakura's faithful maid and friend called again in a loud whisper.

"Five more minutes," Sakura replied groggily.

"But what about your plan for Syaoran-san?" Chiharu asked.

Sakura shot up from the bed, startling Chiharu, all grogginess forgotten. It was dark inside her room; even though the curtains were pulled back revealing her window. It was about 5 am and the only light came from the moon.

"Right!" She said determinedly. "Did Takeshi-kun say I could borrow it?"

"Yeah he said it was fine," Chiharu replied, "you're lucky you can borrow it on such short notice. After all you came in the middle of the night. But I don't see why you want to do this to Syaoran-san. He's really kind and polite; at least he is to the other maids and me."

After saying this, Chiharu presented Sakura with a fairly heavy black box. Sakura opened the lid, and smiled at what was inside; she gave no indication of hearing Chiharu's comment about Syaoran.

"Syaoran-kun's gonna love this," Sakura said, smirking.

Sakura peeked out the door of her room cautiously. When the coast was clear, she scurried across the short distance between her door and Syaoran's with the small box tucked under her arm. She ducked into Syaoran's room as quickly and quietly as possible, doing her best not to wake him up. Fortunately for Sakura, Syaoran was not a light sleeper.

It was fairly dark in Syaoran's room. Like Sakura's room, the only light came from the window. Sakura crept up to the side of Syaoran's bed to see if he was really asleep. Syaoran was sleeping dangerously close to the edge of his bed and his expression was neutral. Sakura watched him for a moment to make sure he was really asleep. She decided that he was definitely asleep when he muttered something incoherent and turned on his side away from her.

Sakura walked back to Syaoran's door so she could make a quick getaway when her prank was finished. She opened the box she received from Chiharu and carefully pulled out a finely crafted and carefully polished bugle.

She took a deep breath, put the bugle to her lips, and blew as hard as she could into the mouthpiece. The result was the desired extremely loud, off-key sound that hurt the ears. Syaoran, startled out of his peaceful slumber, jumped about a foot in the air before landing with a thud on the floor, an avalanche of blankets and pillows following him.

Syaoran groaned and started to sit up; that's when Sakura, through her giggling managed to realize that it would be in her best interest to leave before Syaoran had a chance to catch her in the act of her prank. She slipped out the door right as Syaoran's head poked out of the blankets. Syaoran had had a pretty good idea about who was behind this prank and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the end of Sakura's pink night gown disappearing out his door. He made a mental note to get back at her later.

Deciding that it would be pointless to try and get more sleep, Syaoran thought he might as well get ready for the day. As he headed for his bathroom, he noticed a note taped to the door. It read:

_Dear__ kid __Syaoran,_

_My sister has her lessons with Yukito today after lunch and I know from experience that she will try anything to get out of them. Your job is to make sure she goes to her lessons in the library and stays there. Good luck. You'll need it._

_Sincerely, _

_King Touya of Clow_

Syaoran sighed after reading the note. Needless to say he was not looking forward to this. But then something occurred to him. What better way to get back at Sakura was there than making her do something she obviously hates?

Breakfast and lunch went by without event, much to Touya's dismay. However, after lunch was a very different story.

"No!" Sakura said while attempting and failing to get away from Syaoran.

"Sakura-hime," Syaoran sighed exasperatedly, "whether you like it or not, you're going to your lesson, even if I have to carry you there myself."

"Well good luck with that," Sakura declared defiantly, "because there's no way I'm coming quietly." Normally, Sakura wouldn't have put up so much of a fight about her lessons—unless it was her brother trying to get her to go (it's fun to annoy him)—but something about Syaoran frustrated her so much she felt as though she couldn't _not_ put up a fight.

"Suit yourself," Syaoran replied indifferently, and with that, he swiftly scooped Sakura up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sakura flushed from anger and embarrassment as Syaoran carried off. She pounded on his back with her fists and kicked her legs in a feeble attempt to escape from him. Unfortunately for Sakura, however, Syaoran was stronger than he looked.

When they finally arrived at the library, Syaoran dumped Sakura unceremoniously onto her chair. He then retreated to a chair that had been set out for him farther away from lesson area and sat down. Sakura shot Syaoran a last glare before turning back to Yukito and focusing on her lessons.

Sometime during the middle of the lesson, Syaoran nodded off. When her lessons were over, Sakura gathered up her quill and ink. She was about to leave when she noticed her 'bodyguard' asleep in his chair. She looked down at the quill and ink in her hands, an idea forming in her mind.

She tiptoed up to Syaoran, once again trying not to wake him. She carefully took his right hand and placed it palm up on his lap. Then she opened her jar of ink and poured some of the ink into Syaoran's hand. She took her quill and brushed the feathery part across Syaoran's nose in hopes of getting him to rub ink all over his face. Much to her frustration however, Syaoran used his other hand to swat at the feather, so she tried again only to get the same result. Determined to get Syaoran to wipe the ink on his face, Sakura and leaned in closer to his face and brushed the feather on his right cheek. To her delight, Syaoran started to raise his ink-covered hand towards his face, but at the last second, instead of smearing ink all over his face, his hand shot out and planted an inky hand print on Sakura's cheek.

Sakura just stood there gaping while Syaoran smiled at her cheekily. When Sakura finally regained her voice, all that she manage to get out was "H-How did you? What?"

"It's nice to see those lessons are paying off," Syaoran replied, to which Sakura responded with a glare. "But I guess I'll humor you. You see, I woke up when you were pouring the ink into my hand, and from there I played it by ear."

"You are the most infuriating person I have ever met." Sakura said, her voice echoing her frustration.

"Really?" Syaoran replied with mock innocence as he stood up from his chair, "I always thought I was quite likeable."

"Ok that does it! I've had enough of you and your rudeness and snappy comments!" Sakura yelled angrily. If this were an old cartoon, you would see steam coming out of Sakura's ears. She advanced towards Syaoran with a murderous glint in her eyes. Syaoran took this as his cue to leave, and with that, he took off running out of the library with Sakura hot on his trail. He ran down a long hallway and past a few maids who gave him strange looks. Syaoran's escape hallway made a turn to the left, and as he was turning the corner he chanced a glance back to see where Sakura was. To his relief, she was still quite a few feet behind him. Before he had a chance to look forward again, however, he collided with someone. Syaoran bounced back off the person and fell on the floor while the other person stood unwavering. Syaoran groaned softly and looked up, an apology on the tip of his tongue. The apology died however, when he saw who he ran into.

"Your majesty?" Syaoran uttered in shock. The king stood before him, scowling, and replied, "Hey kid, watch where you're going will you, and there's no running in the hall. Why are you running anyway?"

"Well I—"

BAM!

Syaoran's explanation was cut short as Sakura came around the corner running at full speed and plowed into him. They both laid sprawled across the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, each of them struggling to get free. Touya, in the meantime, was trying and failing to contain his laughter. He saw the handprint on Sakura's face and the ink on Syaoran's hand and laughed even harder.

"What were you two doing?" he managed to ask between laughs. He watched Syaoran and Sakura attempt to untangle themselves, then said "You know what, never mind but hurry up and get off the ground, because I have some news for you two."

When they finally got untangled, Sakura and Syaoran followed Touya to the throne room. As they were walking, Sakura gave Syaoran a look that said 'Don't think you got off the hook, I'll deal with you later.' Syaoran just smiled at her and Sakura huffed and looked away.

When they arrived in the throne room, Touya turned them and said, "Now that we have a little more privacy, I'll tell you the news." He cleared his throat then began, "As you two should know, the time for the annual spring festival here in Clow is right around the corner, and people from all over the world come to take part in the festivities. Well, I have just received word that some of our cousins are coming to visit us and see the festival. They will be arriving tomorrow."

Sakura looked slightly afraid, but she quickly composed herself and asked, "Which cousins are coming Touya?"

"Let's see," Touya said as he thought for a moment, "From mom's side Tomoyo, Fai, and Riku are coming, and from dad's side Nezumi, Kurogane, Chi, Kikiyo, and Kari are coming."

"Oh! Tomoyo-chan is coming!" Sakura exclaimed happily, "I can't wait to see her! But do those other little monsters have to come too?"

"Sakura," Touya said sternly, "they are our family, and just because you may be a monster doesn't mean everyone else is."

"But onii-chan, they always cause trouble and then I get blamed for it." Sakura replied, ignoring the insult.

"Sure Sakura, that's what you say all the time." Touya said indifferently.

"But… but… oh never mind. Is that all Touya?" Sakura asked sadly.

"Yes, that's it, you guys can go now," Touya replied.

Sakura and Syaoran exited the throne room, with the former mumbling about rotten luck and monstrous family members.

"What's so bad about your cousins?" Syaoran asked.

"Well all of them except for Tomoyo-chan, Chi-chan, Fai-kun, and Kurogane-kun are immature brats that cause trouble and the blame and punishments always fall on me." Sakura replied.

"And speaking of punishments, you never got yours for this!" Sakura exclaimed angrily as she pointed at the black handprint on her face. She took a swing at Syaoran but he dodged and escaped down another hallway. Sakura took off after him and then chase began once again.

"Syaoran-kun! Grr, when I get my hands on you I'm gonna…" Sakura began angrily.

"You're gonna what?" Syaoran interrupted mockingly.

"I'm gonna, I'm gonna, uhm," Sakura said uncertainly, she hadn't really thought about what she was going to do. "I'm going to sit on you?" Sakura finished lamely.

"Sit on me?" Syaoran replied as he laughed.

By this time Syaoran had run into the enormous and beautiful palace gardens with Sakura on his tail. Because it was spring time, almost all the flowers were blooming and it was a beautiful sight.

"Yeah! And I'm going to, going to…" Sakura glanced around quickly, looking for inspiration. She noticed the flowers all around her feet and got an idea. "I'm going to sit on you and tie flowers in your hair!" Sakura declared proudly.

Syaoran stopped suddenly causing Sakura to nearly bump into him. Syaoran turned back to look at her and laughed. "That's it! I don't even know if it's worth running away." He turned away from her and was about to start running again until Sakura stopped him.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura yelled as she tackled Syaoran to the ground. "You're not going anywhere until your hair is full of flowers." And with that said she began to weave flowers through Syaoran's chocolate locks.

Syaoran could have easily escaped Sakura's flower-based 'punishment', but he decided to humor her and stay put.

"Perfect!" Sakura exclaimed when she was finished. Syaoran's hair was now a bouquet of many multicolored flowers, courtesy of Sakura.

"Well now that you're done, it would probably be in your best interest to get off of me," Syaoran stated.

"And why is that?" Sakura asked.

"Because of this!" Syaoran exclaimed as quickly pushed himself up off the ground, causing Sakura to topple off him. Before Sakura could escape, Syaoran knelt over her and began tickling her mercilessly.

"Syao…ran…kun…stop!" Sakura managed to say between laughs.

"Hmm, I don't think I will, until you agree to truce for now," Syaoran declared, mentally patting himself on the back for thinking of a way of getting a temporary ceasefire.

"Never!" Sakura declared defiantly as she laughed.

Syaoran continued to tickle Sakura and soon tears of laughter were running down her face.

"OK! Fine…truce…until tomorrow…now stop!" Sakura managed to gasp out, not being able to take much more of the tickle-torture.

"See that wasn't so hard," Syaoran said as he stopped tickling her and lay down on his back beside her. They enjoyed the beautiful day for awhile, until Syaoran, tired of the silence asked, "So now what?"

"Hmm," Sakura started as she sat up, "I know! Let me show you something." Sakura got up from her resting place and started to walk deeper in to the palace gardens, gesturing for Syaoran to follow her. Syaoran followed her and soon they were working their way through some dense foliage. After a few minutes of avoiding various branches and other plants, the pair emerged in a clearing with a medium sized, crystal-clear pond in the middle.

As they stepped into the oasis, Syaoran was in awe of its beauty. The grass was soft underfoot and the surrounding trees offered plentiful shade, giving the oasis a pleasant temperature.

"My dad built this place for Mom," Sakura said smiling gently. "When I was little, Dad used to take Touya and me to this place a lot. Now onii-chan and I are the only ones who know about this place."

"It's amazing," Syaoran stated, still completely blown away by the scenery.

"Yeah, it is," Sakura replied. Then, as if coming out of a trance, Sakura shook her head and said in a more cheerful tone, "Come on, let's go put our feet in the water!" Before Syaoran had a chance to reply, Sakura took him by the hand and pulled him off toward the far bank of the pond. Syaoran blushed lightly at the contact but allowed Sakura to pull him along.

When the duo arrived at their destination, Sakura let go of Syaoran's hand and sat down on the soft grass. She began taking off her shoes and socks and rolling up her pants and Syaoran did the same. Once their shoes and socks had been removed, Syaoran and Sakura stuck their feet into the cool, refreshing water.

"What happened to your toe?" Sakura asked, noticing Syaoran's bruised digit.

"Oh that," Syaoran replied sheepishly, "well I dropped a box of books on it, and you stepped on it."

"I stepped on it?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.

Syaoran, much to his horror, found himself blushing lightly. He looked away from Sakura and answered her, "Yeah, when we crashed into each other, you stepped on it on accident."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. It looks painful." Sakura said sympathetically.

"It doesn't hurt that much anymore," Syaoran replied indifferently, then, unable to resist, Syaoran added playfully, "you big feet didn't squish my toe as much as I thought they would."

Sakura responded with a mock glare and splash of water that successfully soaked Syaoran's pants up his mid thighs. Before Syaoran had a chance to splash back however, Sakura got up ran away towards the area where they entered the clearing, laughing the whole way.

Syaoran got up to follow her and after he took a few steps, Sakura seemingly tripped and fell. Chuckling, Syaoran ran up to her and said jokingly, "You know Sakura-hime, it makes it easier for me to catch you if fall down like that." His teasing look turned into a look of concern, however, when he saw that Sakura was not glaring or laughing, but clutching her foot with a pained expression. He knelt down next to her and asked gently, "Are you alright Sakura-hime?"

"I think so," she replied in a pained voice, "but my foot really hurts."

"Let me take a look," Syaoran said, taking her foot gently. Sakura winced but said nothing as Syaoran carefully examined the bottom of her foot. He was surprised to find a large but thin cut running from the ball of her foot to the beginning of her heel. He also noticed that her ankle was red and swollen, so he assumed that she had twisted it when she fell. "Well you have quite cut on your foot Sakura-hime, and it looks like you twisted your ankle," Syaoran said, "but it's nothing a little bandage and some rest won't fix".

"That's good to hear," Sakura replied.

"Stay here," Syaoran said suddenly. Before Sakura could reply, Syaoran had stood up started to sprint back over to where they had been putting their feet in the water.

"It's not like I can get anywhere like this," Sakura grumbled to herself.

Syaoran came back a minute later with his shoes on and Sakura's shoes in his pockets. (He has big pockets, she has small shoes.)

"Alright we need to get you to the infirmary," Syaoran said when he got back to Sakura.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Sakura responded sarcastically.

Syaoran ignored her sarcasm and asked, "Can you walk?"

"I'll try," Sakura answered, standing up and using Syaoran's arm for support. As soon as she put weight on her bad foot, however, she flinched from the pain and leaned more heavily on Syaoran. "Walking might be a problem," Sakura said sheepishly.

"Well in that case, we'll just have to do this," Syaoran said as he scooped Sakura up bridal style. Sakura stiffened at first, but then relaxed when she was sure Syaoran wasn't going to drop her. Syaoran walked to the edge of the clearing, then turned around so his back was the jungle of plants they had to get through to get into the clearing. He then pulled Sakura closer to him, causing both of them to blush, and proceeded to walk backwards through the foliage.

Sakura could help but think that it was kind of nice being in Syaoran's arms like she was now, not that she would admit to him though. Unknown to her, Syaoran was also thinking along the same lines.

After tripping twice and almost falling once, the pair finally made it out of the miniature forest. Syaoran then exited the palace gardens and carried Sakura to the infirmary. Once in the infirmary, Syaoran set Sakura down on one of the beds.

"Where's the infirmary keeper?" Syaoran asked, looking for someone to assist them.

"I don't know," Sakura replied, also looking around, "Terada-san and Rika-chan are normally here most of the time, but they must be taking a break or something."

"Well I guess I'll have to patch you up myself," Syaoran stated. He walked over to the various started looking through them, trying to find the bandages and antiseptics. Sakura giggled quietly as Syaoran put his entire head into one of the lower cabinets that was on the complete opposite side of where the bandages and antiseptics were. Sakura decided to be nice and tell Syaoran where the things he needed were.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura called out.

THUMP!

Syaoran, startled by Sakura's call, had hit his head on the top of the cabinet. He pulled his head out of the cabinet and rubbed the back of it where it had been hit. "Yes Sakura-hime?" he answered politely.

"The stuff you're looking for is over in that cabinet," Sakura said, pointing to a cabinet on the opposite side of the room as she tried to suppress her giggles.

"Oh," was all Syaoran could say as he flushed bright red and quickly went over to the cabinet Sakura had pointed out. He easily found what he had been looking and brought the items over to Sakura, still red in the face.

"This might sting a little bit," Syaoran said as he poured some of the antiseptic on to a cotton ball. He dabbed at Sakura's cut gently, and she winced a little bit but kept her foot still. After he finished cleaning her cut, he wrapped it in a bandage with the same tenderness. Sakura marveled at how gently Syaoran treated her. She had no idea he could be this kind.

"Do you mind if I check your ankle?" Syaoran asked, "It looks like you twisted it but I want to make sure it isn't more serious."

"I don't mind, that sounds like a good idea," Sakura answered.

After gaining her consent, Syaoran began rotating and bending her ankle skillfully, asking her where it hurt. "Well," Syaoran started after he had finished examining Sakura's ankle, "luckily for you, you only twisted it. Your ankle should be fine in two days as long as you don't walk on it.

"How do you know all of this?" Sakura asked.

"Well people would get hurt all the time during our digs, so my father made sure I knew my first aid." Syaoran replied.

"Well it's a good thing he taught you all that," Sakura said, smiling.

Syaoran blushed at the compliment and in order to distract Sakura from his red face Syaoran asked, "Does your ankle hurt at all?"

"No, its fine," Sakura lied, not wanting Syaoran to worry about her. However, Syaoran saw right through her.

"Sakura-hime," he said sternly.

"Ok, it hurts a little bit," she said.

Syaoran gave her a look.

"Ok, ok, you got me, it hurts a lot," Sakura said truthfully.

"Let me see if I can do something about that," Syaoran stated as he began massaging her ankle gently.

Sakura sighed in relief and pleasure as the pain in her ankle started to disappear. "Wow Syaoran-kun, your hands must be magic because my ankle feels so much better."

Syaoran's blush darkened but he continued to rub her ankle.

When he had finally worked his way all the way around her ankle, Syaoran stopped rubbing and bandaged up her ankle.

"Uhm, Syaoran-kun, how can I get around if you said I shouldn't walk on my ankle?" Sakura asked.

"Well, uhm, I guess I can just carry you around since we're always supposed to be together and stuff." Syaoran answered while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Uhm, ok, that works," Sakura said, her face coloring to match Syaoran's.

Though, neither of them had realized it, they had spent in the clearing and infirmary, so the dinner bell interrupted their awkward moment.

"Well, shall we go?" Syaoran asked Sakura.

"Yes! Take me away!" Sakura answered dramatically as she opened her arms.

Syaoran once again picked her up bridal style and carried her off to dinner.

Needless to say, Touya and Yukito were very surprised when Sakura showed up to dinner in a flowery-headed Syaoran's arms.


End file.
